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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Willett 2 Year Rye: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

Willett 2 Year Rye

Unlike last week's review of Maker's Mark, which all things considered proved to be a massive disappointment, Willett's two year rye whiskey impressed our panel. This rare whiskey is interesting because it came from Willett's own copper still rather than being sourced from somewhere else as Willett's previous bourbons and ryes have been. You can find this beauty at the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar for $8 a pour, which also makes it a pretty incredible deal! Willett is also on our list of distilleries to visit when we do a tour in July. You should join us!

The rye comes in big on the nose with grains, grass trimmings, and buttercream icing. You get the booze from the cask strength bottling at 111.4 proof yet it remains fairly clean. On the palate the whiskey presents hay, amber waves of grain, and a multitude of baking spices. It tastes a little green too, like freshly cut grass, or really more likely whiskey that has great potential but probably belongs in the barrel a little longer. The finish is sharp, bold and sweet, however, not too harsh for the over-proofed rye. Again, you can tell the whiskey is young. It is front heavy, giving you more at the start than on the finish. With a little more time in the barrel Willett will really be onto something with this rye.

Willett 2 Year RyeAverage Score: 76.67

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. Lock & Key has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys available for on premise consumption. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote from Bite and Booze, Arthur Lauck from Lock & Key, and Jeremy Spikes. Using our own proprietary scoring system, whiskeys are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, Balance and Complexity, and "Bang for the Buck" which should encompass the whiskey's overall value. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable, you'd let somebody buy you one) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss, anything above 80 is rather extraordinary, and anything above 90 is world class.